August 29, 2013

Review: Taste Test

Taste Test By Kelly Fiore
Available now from Walker Children's (Bloomsbury)
Review copy

There's something fascinating about cooking shows.  Unlike a lot of scripted television, there's true talent involved.  But unlike something like So You Think You Can Dance, there's little way for the viewer at home to judge the talent.  There's no way to participate in the best part: eating the food.  Still, it's strangely fun to watch.

Nora isn't a watcher, but a competitor in the teen cooking show Taste Test.  She's worked in her father's barbeque restaurant all her life, and this is her chance to get a free ride to culinary school.  She's certainly not going to be bested by someone like Christian, the son of a famous chef who has plenty of money and can always work in his father's respected restaurants.  It doesn't help that the first time Nora meets Christian, he insults her background. 

Nora is extremely competitive, and like most teenagers, quite judgmental.  It's little wonder that she instantly dislikes Christian, especially since he doesn't appear to have made it past grade school when it comes to flirting techniques.  But there is a real, obvious chemistry between the characters, particularly when they have moments alone.  However, I would have liked a little more of the female friendships.  Nora quickly makes friends with fellow contestants Angela and Gigi, but things happen.  And honestly, one of those things makes sense from a narrative standpoint, but I don't think it worked that well with the character development.

In addition to the romance and cooking competition, there's a mystery.  Someone is sabotaging the competition - the kind of sabotage that puts people in the hospital.  (And the kind that requires you to suspend disbelief that they wouldn't halt production.)  I'm not sure the mystery was the best move, as it pushes Nora's worst judge-y qualities to the fore.  Not to mention there's little time to get into any real detecting.  Perhaps I just miss the days of plain old teen contemporary romance.  It's pretty thin on the ground.

I think TASTE TEST will appeal to fans of cooking shows (or just cooking!) looking for something light and funny to read.  The show mechanics don't make complete sense, but the challenges are described well and the montage through the judge's score sheets is hilarious.  As a bonus, there's a section of recipes in the back.  TASTE TEST would do well paired with FLAVOR OF THE WEEK by Tucker Shaw.

14 comments:

  1. I am obsessed with cooking shows!! Watching Top Chef Masters right now. Maybe I'll have to try this..
    Thanks so much for stopping by! Jen @ YA Romantics

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha. I have an odd thing for Cupcake Wars, of all shows. The challenges are so terrible, but the cupcakes often sound so good!

      Delete
  2. I meant to request this from NetGalley and then never did, and after a few "meh" reviews, I'm not AS excited for it. I'm glad it was an okay read for you, Liviania, but too bad it didn't really blow you away.

    Once Upon a Prologue

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, I was hoping for something a touch more Melissa Walker-esque. But I'd still pick it up if you're a contemp fan!

      Delete
  3. Sounds kind of fun--the sort of thing that might be a nice genre break book for me!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, it was my Saturday morning book. I like to start the weekend with something quick and different.

      Delete
  4. I love shoes like Masterchef and The Great American Baking Competition, so I kind of want to read this one just for that reason.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I do not watch enough cooking shows! I tend to stick to the baking ones, like Cupcake Wars and such, but I love how this concept was worked into a book! It sounds like a lot of fun.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I don't watch a LOT of cooking shows, but I have been known to binge on occasion... *grin* I do love reading about cooking, so this is one that I'll put on my 'to check out the next time I'm at the library' list. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, I don't watch too many, but at least one a week I'd say.

      Delete
  7. I found Nora just so judgmental by the end that everything she did annoyed me. I did get quite hungry while reading this though and wishing my TV came with smellovision so I could watch and smell some delicious foods since I'm not much of a chef.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You just have to practice! Once you get some techniques down and learn to follow a recipe, it's fairly simple.

      Delete

Thanks for commenting! To reduce spam I moderate all posts older than 14 days.

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...